How to Get Into & Pay for College

My grades have dropped. Will this ruin my chances?

QUESTION: I am at the end of my junior year, and my GPA just dropped to below a 3.0 due to the difficult classes that I have taken. I would like to get into Purdue University, but with this drop I am starting to doubt if I’ll be accepted. I am on track for graduating from high school with honors. Could you help me and let me know if I should be concerned about the drop in my grades?–Less Than Perfect Grades

Dear Less Than Perfect Grades: One of the easiest ways to waste time is to worry about what has passed and what you can no longer affect. Instead of spending time fruitlessly, let’s concentrate on your future and what you can do to improve your chances of getting into your top choice school. First, expand your list of possible colleges. Purdue is a great school, but there are many others that could be a strong potential fit for you. Spend this summer learning more about colleges by going to their websites, asking friends and relatives, or visiting their campuses. Second, when you return to school in the fall, focus on improving your grades. You will need to supply your senior grades to colleges. Third, study for the standardized tests if you plan to take them again in the fall. These are additional measures of your academic ability. Fourth, work on building the strongest application possible. Spend time on your applications, write powerful, well-edited essays, and prepare for your interviews. Finally, we don’t recommend you worry about your grades. We advise you to take action!

Gen & Kelly Tanabe
Gen and Kelly Tanabe are the founders of SuperCollege and the award-winning authors of 11 books on college admission, financial aid and scholarships. Together they were accepted to all of the Ivy League colleges and won more than $100,000 in merit-based scholarships to graduate from Harvard debt-free.